Phoebe Waller-Bridge says she wasn't hired for James Bond film!

Daniel Craig and Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Phoebe Waller-Bridge will be the second woman ever to be credited for a Bond movie script, but the Fleabag creator insists her gender was not the reason for her appointment. She said it was exciting to work on No Time To Die, in which Daniel Craig will play 007 for the final time. There was speculation that she was hired to make the film more inclusive, specifically to improve the portrayal of women in Bond movies. However, she denies that.

The 007 series is often criticised for its macho world and its skewed gender politics. According to The Guardian, at a session in Southbank Centre, Waller-Bridge said she is not the first woman writer on a Bond film. "[In] the first Bond film, there was [a female writer], but not since. But that didn't come into the conversation."

Irish screenwriter Johanna Harwood had served as writer on two Sean Connery-led James Bond movies - Dr No (1962) and From Russia With Love (1963).

Waller-Bridge said she was not approached to help the makers with the portrayal of the film's "ladies". "The reality was that I got a call from [producer] Barbara [Broccoli] and Daniel [Craig] saying, 'We like your work, can you come in and help us?' There wasn't ever a conversation about [whether I could] help with 'the ladies'. They are proper, amazing producers, writers and actors, and suddenly they are reduced to those people? They said, 'It will be your take. Can you come aboard and help us polish the script?' The characters were there, the story was there, it was just really exciting to be part of it. There was a bunch of writers. I was a small contribution to this thing," she added.

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